New Netherland and Maryland

Hired by the Dutch East India Company, Henry Hudson
in 1609 explored the area around what is now New York City and
the river that bears his name, to a point probably north of
Albany, New York. Subsequent Dutch voyages laid the basis for
their claims and early settlements in the area.

Like the French to the north, the first interest of the Dutch was
the fur trade. To this end, the Dutch cultivated close relations
with the Five Nations of the Iroquois who were the key to the
heartland from which the furs came. In 1617 Dutch settlers built
a fort at the junction of the Hudson and the Mohawk Rivers, where
Albany now stands.

Settlement on the island of Manhattan began in the early 1620s.
In 1624, the island was purchased from local Indians for the
reported price of $24. It was promptly renamed New Amsterdam.

In order to attract settlers to the Hudson River region, the
Dutch encouraged a type of feudal aristocracy, known as the
"patroon" system. The first of these huge estates were
established in 1630 along the Hudson River.

Under the patroon system, any stockholder, or patroon, who could
bring 50 adults to his estate over a four-year period was given a
25-kilometer river-front plot, exclusive fishing and hunting
privileges, and civil and criminal jurisdiction over his lands.
In turn, he provided livestock, tools and buildings. The tenants
paid the patroon rent and gave him first option on surplus crops.

Further to the south, a Swedish trading company with ties to the
Dutch attempted to set up its first settlement along the Delaware
River three years later. Without the resources to consolidate its
position, New Sweden was gradually absorbed into New Netherland,
and later, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

In 1632 the Calvert family obtained a charter for land north of
the Potomac River from King Charles I in what became known as
Maryland. As the charter did not expressly prohibit the
establishment of non-Protestant churches, the family encouraged
fellow Catholics to settle there. Maryland's first town, St.
Mary's, was established in 1634 near where the Potomac River
flows into the Chesapeake Bay.

While establishing a refuge for Catholics who were facing
increasing persecution in Anglican England, the Calverts were
also interested in creating profitable estates. To this end, and
to avoid trouble with the British government, they also
encouraged Protestant immigration.

The royal charter granted to the Calvert family had a mixture of
feudal and modern elements. On the one hand they had the power
to create manorial estates. On the other, they could only make
laws with the consent of freemen (property holders). They found
that in order to attract settlers -- and make a profit from their
holdings -- they had to offer people farms, not just tenancy on
the manorial estates. The number of independent farms grew in
consequence, and their owners demanded a voice in the affairs of
the colony. Maryland's first legislature met in 1635.